The safe disposal of sewer effluents and water treatment requires measurements of suspended solid concentration in treatment pipes, culverts and other conduits.
A sewer effluent containing a low value of suspended solid may be subject to a reduced treatment or no treatment at all. A plant treating sewer effluents from several municipalities may bill those municipalities in accordance with the volume flow and the total suspended solid concentration measured on the intake conduits from each municipality.
In the past, intrusive periodical samplings of solid-carrying water were taken and analyzed in laboratories to provide needed information about the solid contents of the water.
Various methods have been proposed to electronically measure total solid concentration in a volume of liquid, but no instrumentation has been provided for concurrently measuring suspended solid concentration as well as flow on a continuous, real time base.
This invention results from an attempt to provide a more practical instrumentation for use in sewer and water treatment plants.